The biggest and most famous baseball field in Glace Bay, N.S., is getting a facelift to the tune of a quarter-million dollars.
On Thursday, the federal government announced $250,000 will be given to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to complete significant upgrades on the Cameron Bowl, which has hosted national Little League tournaments for years.
“They will get a turf infield, dugouts, a drainage system,” said Mike Kelloway, Liberal MP for Sydney-Glace Bay. “And all this is going into the fact we’re going to be hosting the 2026 Canadian Little League Championships.”
The hometown Glace Bay Colonels have hosted Little League nationals three times at the Cameron Bowl. They won the title and a trip to the Little League World Series in 1988.
Kelloway said it is expected the money will be recouped - and then some - through spinoffs from the 2026 nationals when the tournament rolls around.
“It’s a huge economic driver for the area, bringing probably about $2 million into the local economy,” Kelloway said.
Derrick Hayes, chair of the 2026 Canadian Little League Championship, said he too expects big crowds of interested locals and out-of-towners spending money at hotels and restaurants.
“I think in 2013 we were around eight-to-10 thousand fans (for the championship game), and I expect a similar size for 2026,” said Hayes, who noted the upgrades will bring benefits beyond the tournament. “This field, once it’s renovated, should certainly last for 25, 30 years down the road.”
Kelloway said the plan is to sell Little League teams across the country on what Cape Breton has to offer away from the ballfield.
“The Cape Breton Miner’s Museum is one (attraction), the Cabot Trail is another,” Kelloway said. “There are so many things to do in Cape Breton, so the idea is to do the hard sell now - a year and change ahead of time.”
Along with the government money, more than $35,000 was spent by Glace Bay Little League and the Canadian Little League Championship Society toward the Cameron Bowl repairs.
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